EDINBURG, Texas - The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) baseball team kicks off their 2011 season this weekend with the 9th Annual Al Ogletree Classic Tournament at Edinburg Baseball Stadium. The tournament will begin on Friday February 18th and conclude on Sunday February 20th. Two games will be played each day in a round-robin format.

The 2011 tournament features the UTPA Broncs, the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames, and the Saint Louis University Billikens. Friday afternoon SLU and UIC will kick tournament play off as they face-off with a 3:00 PM first pitch. The Broncs begin tournament play and the 2011 season later that evening as they do battle with UIC. The nightcap of Friday's will begin after the completion of the tournament opener.

The 2011 season will be the third at UTPA for Head Coach Manny Mantrana. The Broncs went 22-33 last season and went 14-17 at Edinburg Baseball Stadium. UTPA won all four games of the Al Ogletree Classic last season to claim the tournament title and a 4-0 start to the 2010 season. The Broncs also won seven of their first nine home games including two wins over Notre Dame and another over Louisiana Tech.

The Broncs are led by a pair of quality middle of the line-up threats in junior Vincent Mejia and senior Stuart MacInnes. Mejia leads all returnees after posting a .380 average last season. He also led the Broncs with eight home runs and 51 RBIs. MacInnes put up a .352 average with 17 doubles and 42 RBIs. On the mound, Kyle Kotchie led the Broncs with four wins, 68 strikeouts and was second on the club with a 4.28 ERA.

The Billikens are the defending Atlantic-10 Conference Champions, finishing the 2010 season with a 33-29 record and a 15-12 record in the A-10. The 33 wins of 2010 is a school record. SLU earned a spot in the NCAA tournament where they fell in the Regional round of play with losses to Louisville and Illinois State.

The leading returnee at the plate for SLU is senior Jon Myers. Myers was named first team all conference after setting the single-season hits record at SLU with 95. Myers also hit .365 with 16 homers, 18 doubles and 72 RBI. Other top returnees are Nick Becker, and Cody Cotter. Darin Hendrickson is the skipper for SLU.

The Flames of Illinois-Chicago finished 2010 with24-30 overall but held a 15-9 in the Horizon League. Matt Serna (.379, 49 RBIs) is the top returning hitter for the Flames. The Flames are coached by Mike Dee.



Al Ogletree Classic - All Games at Edinburg Baseball Stadium

Friday, Feb. 18
Illinois-Chicago vs. Saint Louis @ 4:00 p.m.
Illinois-Chicago vs. Texas-Pan American @ 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 19
Illinois-Chicago vs. Saint Louis @ 12:00 p.m.
Saint Louis vs. Texas-Pan American@ 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 20
Illinois-Chicago vs. Texas-Pan American @ 9:00 a.m.
Saint Louis vs. Texas-Pan American @ 12:00 p.m.